11 Facts About Cas Walker

From 1941 through 1971, Cas Walker served on the Knoxville city council where he became legendary for his uncompromising political stances and his vehement opposition to what he claimed was a corrupt elitism in the city's government.

Cas Walker was the seventh of twelve children born to a working-class family in Sevier County, Tennessee in 1902.

Cas Walker quit school at the age of 14 and spent several years working at different jobs around the region, namely at the Champion Fibre Company in North Carolina and later at various coal mines in Kentucky.

Cas Walker's stores had a simple rural atmosphere that was popular with the city's working class whites and African-Americans.

Cas Walker was first elected to the Knoxville city council in 1941.

Cas Walker was elected mayor in 1946, but after a few weeks of tumultuous meetings and the firing of its own city manager, the city council managed to oust Walker in a recall election.

Cas Walker was reelected to the city council the following year and remained until voluntarily retiring in 1971.

Cas Walker continued to be a force in Knoxville politics into the 1980s.

Cas Walker used The Watchdog to launch controversial attacks against his business competitors.

Cas Walker continued distributing The Watchdog until the early 1980s, when a libel suit forced it out of publication.

In 1929, Walker created a variety show known as the Farm and Home Hour to help promote his cash stores.